BP May Lose U.S. Oil Leases, Contracts After Spill

[kpete]

Source: Bloomberg

BP May Lose U.S. Oil Leases, Contracts After Spill (Update2)
June 14, 2010, 10:44 AM EDT


By Jim Efstathiou Jr. and Jeff Plungis

June 14 (Bloomberg) -- BP Plc may lose control of its U.S. oil and natural gas wells and be barred from doing business with the federal government as punishment for the worst oil spill in U.S. history, industry and regulatory analysts said.

President Barack Obama and lawmakers are debating penalties that would cripple the company’s ability to do business in the U.S. as public outrage intensifies. In addition to BP’s culpability in the Gulf of Mexico spill, a 2005 explosion at BP’s Texas City refinery that killed 15 workers and a 2006 pipeline leak that dumped 200,000 gallons of crude at Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, will figure in the debate, said Michael Wara, associate professor of environmental law at Stanford University in Palo Alto, California.

“The government weighs whether there is a pattern and practice,” Wara said. “They’ll consider whether BP runs these incredibly complicated systems, where accidents can and sometimes do happen, or whether the company has a culture that disfavors safety and environmental compliance.”

Read more: http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-06-14/bp-may-lose-u-s-oil-leases-contracts-after-spill-update2-.html

[polichick]

1. Sure hope so! nt

[saigon68]

20. Don't count on it

Change you can believe in is no change at all

[Donnachaidh]

2. MAY? There shouldn't even be a question -- they should have already lost them.

jeez louise....

[primavera]

7. +1

[wordpix]

15. +2 or we could wait for another BP oil disaster and then punish them...

like BushCo would do

[primavera]

19. Hell, the shrub would give them a medal

Let no crime go unrewarded, that was his motto.

[Earth_First]

3. LMFAO!

:rofl:

Yea. Sure they will...

[The Backlash Cometh]

4. You mean there was a question?

Man, it must be great to have Anglo blood.

[laureloak]

13. XXX

[The Backlash Cometh]

14. You mean they wouldn't be treated differently if it were a Mexican owned company?

Check this out:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x4427977

[awoke_in_2003]

5. Snowballs may actually

have a chance in hell.

[Kablooie]

6. The problem with this is that then BP may just pick up and go home.

And leave the mess for America to clean up.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

8. well it's not doing an awful lot now

[dipsydoodle]

10. I would doubt that.

.

[katnapped]

11. You think that isn't their current plan? n/t

[wordpix]

16. and THAT is why US should seize US assets NOW before the criminals get away

cry bankruptcy or close operations in US quickly, taking money with them.

[dipsydoodle]

9. That would leave

the gas company , BP North America . who are unassociated with this is issue , in Canada only. Re-titled to BP Canada too I'd guess.

I beieve that BP had already faced up to not working in the USA again. Just a matter of spliting off the interests there when the US Gov decides who could take over without breaking your anti trust laws.

[truthisfreedom]

12. Interesting that the administration is floating this. There seems to be a mixture of "I don't want

BP shares to drop in value" versus "BP is finished in this country."

[wordpix]

17. forget the value of shares---people who invest in oil cos. are at risk

That is not up to Obama or the US to protect. I understand that some trusting, unknowing innocents invested their pension funds or retirement funds in BP but sorry, most people who've ever invested in the stock market have lost money somewhere along the line. And if you're investing in oil companies instead of a socially, environmentally responsible fund or company, you are at great risk.

[Titanothere]

18. Sounds good, let an American company with a good safety record pick them up

like Exxon. Before you scream Valdez, check their record, not an incident since then. If someone's going to be making all that money, I'd rather it be a US company although I'm not sure if we get more or less $ from US vs International outfits.